Our first panel was a 360-degree overview of the housing market (the other three, in February and March, are about Affordable Housing, Gentrification, and the love-it/hate-it effects of the California Environmental Quality Act). We focused on the Sacramento area's real estate and rental markets -- who and what are affecting the prices, what's the forecast for 2017, will anything change, and whether renters and potential buyers should still have hope.

Listen to the podcast, either all the way through or jump around to specific segments (use the "Podcast Timeframe" at the bottom of the page as a reference).

If you are time-strapped, then just go to the 1 hour, 2 minute mark, where a 30-year-old guy steps to the mic and asks, "I worry that I can never buy a house. Is there any hope for me?" What the panelists tell him reveal a lot about the current state of Sacramento's housing market, and where it's headed.

Listen to the whole thing, or refer to the "Podcast Timeframe" section at the bottom of the page to go to specific sections.

But there's plenty of highlights throughout the podcast -- listen and enjoy.